Car-door-operating mechanism



A. F. O'CONNOR 7 CAR DOOR OPERATING IECHANISII Oct. 15, 1929,

Filed Dec. 15, 1926 Patented Oct. 15, 1929 UNITE stares ARTHUR F. O'CONNOR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINO IS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNION RAILWAY EQUIP- MENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS CAR-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM Application filed December 15, 1926. Serial No. 154,861.

The mechanism of the present invention is designed with particular reference to the requirements of refrigerator car doors. In 'mechanisms of this character, it has been customary in the past to provide a vertical shaft which may be rotated or rolled across the face of the door in the opening and closingoperations, and to employ some form of a mounting on the door for positively securing the shaft to the door itself.

The present invention is designed to avoid the use of mountings, guides or the like, which must be secured directly to the door, and to guide and control the movements of the shaft exclusively by mountings secured to the door casing at points above and below the .door opening. This arrangement reduces friction'and enables the door to be progressively closed and tightly sealed by the rolling of the shaft across the face of the door, and results in a reduction in the number of parts employed in comparison with door operating devices of the character commonly employed at the present time.

Further details will appear from the description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a door showing the operating mechanism in closed rela tion in full lines, and in' open relation in dotted lines at the right of the figure; and

Fig. 2 is a .sectional detail of the lower end of the shaft housed in the rack end guideway provided therefor. e

The mechanism is applied to a refrigerator car door comprising a right hand door sec tion 10 and a left hand door section -11, which sections are secured by means of hinges 12 to the sides 13' of the door opening. Above and below the door opening are located shaft guide members 14:, each of which comprises an inner wall 15 and base 16 and an outer guide wall 17 provided with" an overhanging lip 18, best shown in Fig. 2.

The inner wall of each guide member is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 1.9 to provide for the guidance and travel of a vertical shaft 20, which is of a length to extend from top to bottom of the right hand door section, and to project at each end through the guide slots 19 and across the interior of the guide members. The shaft at each endhas keyed thereon a pinion 21 which meshes with a rack 22 formed on the base of the associated guide member, so that as the shaft is rolled transversely of the door, the teeth on the pinions will mesh with the teeth on the racks, which latter are long enough to extend from the free edge of the door to a point beyond the hinged rear edge, so asto permit the shaft 20 to be rolled from door closing position, shown in full lines, to the door opening position, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. I

In order to reduce friction, the shaft at each end has journaled thereon a roller 23 which rides within the outer portion of the associated guideway and is adapted, while the door is being closed, to bear upon the underface of the overhanging lip 18 thereby permitting the shaft to ride freely and without friction through the guide slots 19, which simply afford the necessary clearance for the free action of the shaft. The shaft also carries a pair of freely mounted rollers 24 which roll upon a pair of face plates 25 screwed to the surface of the door near the upper and lower edges thereof, which are simply provided for the purpose of preventing abrasive action against the wooden surface of the door.

The shaft 20 is provided at a convenient point with a clutch collar 26 keyed to the shaft, which collar co-acts with the clutch head 27 which freelyencircles the shaft and forms a mounting for a handle 28 which is employed for rotating and rollingthe shaft. The clutch head being freely mounted upon the shafts permits the handle to be turned through part of a rotation, while the parts are in clutched relation, and then tobe lifted vand returned and reclutched' for a further partial rotation. 7

After the door has been completely closed, the handle will occupy the position shown in Fig.1 and extend across the face of the left hand doorsectionto which it is locked by means of a latch tongue 29 pivoted by a pin 30 to a latch plate 31. In moving the latch tongue to closing position, it will swing under a hooked finger 32, and the free end of the latch tongue is provided with an outwardly turned flange 33 which, when closed, registers with the finger 32 permitting a padlock 34 to be passed through the parts to look the handle. The right hand door section is further provided near its free edge with a handle 35. The left hand door is held closed by means of a swinging latch 36 pivoted within the latch plate 37 and adapted to en a e with a tongue 38 on the door.

In use, when it is desired to open the door, the handle 28 will be released from the latch, and oscillated back and forth in alternately clutched and unclutched relation to the shaft, thereby rolling the shaft back to the position indicated in dotted lines, and out of vertically transverse relation with any portion of the right hand door section, so that with the shaft in its retracted position, it will not obstruct the free opening of the door by means of the handle 35. 7

When it is desired to close the door, the

door may be swung inwardly to closing relation without manipulating the shaft, and thereafter by rolling the shaft inwardly across the door, the rollers 24 will engage the plates 25 and progressively force in the door and ultimately exert a suliicient pressure thereon to tightly close and seal the door, which requires considerable pressure in closing in view of the packing or sealing required in doors of this character. It is not ordinarily necessary to provide special mechanical appliances for opening doors of this character, since a direct pull on the handle 35 will suliice, so that it is only necessary to provide adequate mechanism for the tight closing and sealing of the door which is afforded in the present instance.

The mechanism as a whole is of extremely simple character and may be readily applied by simply bolting the guide members in place,

and in use the entire thrust will be centered upon the pairs of rollers 23 and 24, so that friction will be reduced toa minimum.

I claim:

1. In mechanism of the character described, in combination with a swinging door and a casing to which the door is hinged, a pair of guide members mounted upon the casing outside of the planes subtended by the door in swinging, each guide member being provided with arack extending substantially parallel with thecasing, a shaft positioned to roll across the door in a direction from the hinged edge toward the free edge thereof to swing the door to closing position and provided with pinions engaging the racks, means for maintainlngthepmions and racks 1n meshlng relation during the rolling of the shaft, means for imparting a rolling movement to the shaft, and a roller on the sha t positioned to roll across the surface of the door and impart a rolling thrust thereto to close the door, substantially as described.

7 members secured to the door casing on opposite sides of the space through which the door swings in closing, each guide member being provided with a rack and a guide channel adjacent thereto, a shaft positioned to extend across the space between the guide members and having at each end a pinion meshing with the proximate rack, a roller positioned to roll within the associated channel and the shaft being further provided with an intermediate roller positioned toimpart a rolling thrust to the door surface, and means for rolling the shaft across the surface of the door to impart a closing movement thereto, the guide members being of a length to permit the shaft to be rolled from a position behind the hinged edge of the door to a position adjacent the free edge ofthe door, substantially as described.

8. In mechanism of the character described, in combination with a door casing and a door section hinged to the casing, a pair of guide membersisecured to the door casing on opposite sides of the space through which the door swings in closing, each guide member being provided with a rack and a guide channel adjacent thereto, a shaft positioned to ex tend across the space between the guide members and having at each end a pinion meshing with the proximate rack, a roller positioned to roll within the associated channel and the shaft being further provided with an intermediate roller positioned to impart a rolling thrust'to the door surface, means for rolling the shaft across the surface of the door to impart a closing movement thereto, including a clutch member rigid with. the shaft, and af handle terminating in a companion clutch member freely mounted on the shaft and adapted to be alternately engaged with and door, substantially as described;

4. In mechanism of thech aracterdescribed, in combination with a door casing and a door section hinged to the casing, a pair of guide members secured to the door casing on opi15 posite sides of the space through which the door swings in closing, each guide member being provided with a rack and a guide channel adj acentthereto, a shaft positioned to ex; tend across the spacebetween the guide members and having at each end-a pinion meshing, with the proximate rack, a roller positioned to roll within the associatedchannel and the shaft being further provided with an intermediate roller positioned to impart a rolling thrust to the door surface, the guide members being of a length to permit the shaft to be rolled from a position behind the hinged edge of the door to a position adjacent the free edge of the door, a clutch member rigid '130 with the shaft, and a handle terminating in a companion clutch member freely mounted on the shaft and adapted to be alternately engaged with and released from the first mentioned clutch member to roll the shaft across the surface of the door, substantially as de scribed.

5. In mechanism of the character described, in combination with a door casing and a door section. hinged to the casing, a pair of guide members secured to the door casing on opposite sides of the spaces through which the door swings in closing, each guide member being provided with a rack and a guide channel adjacent thereto, a shaft positioned to extend across the space between the guide members and having at each end a pinion meshing with the proximate rack, a roller positioned to roll within the associated channel and the shaft being further provided with an intermediate roller positioned to impart a rolling thrust to the door surface, means for rolling the shaft across the surface of the door to impart a closing movement thereto, a clutch member rigid with. the shaft, a handle terminating in a companion clutch member freely mounted on the shaft and adapted to be alternately engaged with and released from the first mentioned clutch member to roll the shaft across the surface of the door, an oppositely mounted companion door section, and locking means on said sect-ion positioned to engage and lock the handle when the two door sections are brought into closed relation, substantially as described.

6. In mechanism of the character described, in combination with a door casing and a door section hinged to the casing, a pair of guide members secured to the door casin on opposite sides of the spaces through which the door swings in closing, each guide member being provided with a rack and a guide channel ad acent thereto, a shaft posltioned to extend across the space between the guide members and having at each end a pinion meshing with the proximate rack, a roller positioned to roll within the associated channel and the shaft being further provided with an intermediate roller positioned to impart a rolling thrust to the door surface, means for rolling the shaft across the surface of the door to impart a closing movement thereto, the guide members being of a length to permit the shaft to be rolled from a position behind the hinged edge of the door to a position adjacent the free edge of the door, a clutch member rigid with the shaft, a handle terminating in a companion clutch member freely mounted on the shaft and adapted to be alternately engaged with and released from the first mentioned clutch member to roll the shaft across the surface of the door, an oppositely mounted companion door section, and locking means on said section positioned to engage and lock the handle when the two door sections are brought into closed relation, substantially as described.

' a shaftextending in parallel relation to the hinged edge of the door and extending above and below the top and bottom edges of the door,the shaft being'adapted to roll across the face of the door and exert a closing pres sure thereon, and means on the casing at points above and below the top and bottom edgesof the door for retaining the shaft in rolling but disconnected relation to the door and in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the door casing, said means being of a length to permit the rolling of the shaft from a position adjacent to thehinged edge to a position in proximity to the opposite free edge to permit free outward swinging of the door when the shaft occupies the former position, and to exert a closing pressure on the door as the shaft is rolled to the latter po sition, substantially asdescribed.

8. In mechanism of the character described, in combination with a swinging door and a casing to one edge of which the door is hinged, a shaft extending in parallel relation to the hinged edge of the door and extending above andbelow the top and bottom edges of the door, the shaft being adapted to roll across the face of the door and exert a,

closing pressure thereon, means on the casing at points above and below the top and bottomsition, and to exert a closing pressure on the door as the shaft is rolled to the latter position, each of said shaft retaining means including a rack and guiding portions for holding the shaft in operative relation to the rack, and a pinion near each end of the shaft engaging with the associated rack, substantially as described. 7

9. In mechanism of the character described,

in combination with a swinging door and a casing to one edge of which the door is hmged,

a shaft extending in parallel relation to the hinged edge of the door and extending above and below the top and bottom edges of the door, the shaft being adapted to roll across the face of the door and exert a closing pres-' sure thereon, means on the casing at points above and below thetop and bottom edges of the door for retaining the shaft in rolling but disconnected relation to the door and in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the door casing, said means heingof a length to permit the rolling of the shaft from a position adjacent to the hinged edge to a position in proximity to the opposite free edge I ,to permit free outward swinging of the door when the shaft occupies the former posltlon,

and to exert a closing pressure on the door as the shaft is rolled to the latter position, each of said shaft retaining means including a rack and a guide channel, the latter receiving the proximate end of the shaft, a pinion near each end of the shaft and in mesh With the associated rack, and a handle carried by the shaft and having an interlocking clutch connection therewith for rolling the shaft b'y a1- ternate engaging and releasing movements of the handle, substantially as described.

ARTHUR F. OCONNOR. 

